Genre: Post-Rock, Modern Classical
Release Date: April 25th, 2025
My Rating: 4.5/5

I recently attended the No Kings Protest held in San Diego, among many other locations. I didn't stay long for fear of hearing damage, but it was an illuminating experience how so many people are willing to spend time, money, and effort for a singular cause. The reason I decided to go is a recent album released by French self-described experimental/post-rock/modern classical band BRUIT ≤ (yes, the "≤" is part of the band name). The album, titled "The Age of Ephemerality", is much more than a simple piece of music. It's instead the soundtrack to a black and white movie, where each of the five tracks has it's own unique audial and visual experience based on the title of the track. The tracks go:

1. Epemeral
2. Data
3. Progress / Regress
4. Technoslavery / Vandalism
5. The Intoxication of Power

The last track, a reference to George Orwell's 1984, is the most explicit in it's anti-authoritarian theming. With no lyrics at all, the theming is really carried by the visuals. In addition to some protest/anti-protest footage, the visuals illustrate the idea of the human as part of the machine, whether industrial, financial, or military. And as someone who lives completely within the machine (minus all those rolling stops I do on my bike), there's very little that can be done about changing the nature of the it from within. Unless of course, enough small cogs come together to make changes. Audially, the song is nothing too special, just your typical post-rock soundscapes, with the somewhat unique feature of mournful horns. And in case the visuals weren't enough, the song ends with some of the only lyrics in the whole album, a slightly modified quote from 1984. It was this message which inspired me to no longer apathetically sit at home:

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever
The moral is a simple one
Don't let it happen
It depends on you

This album is only available as a YouTube video: https://youtu.be/8bFlXzPDF7M?si=nxreNGy7_XMqIGIv

Genre: Emo, Post-Rock
Release Date: February 18th, 2024
My Rating: 4/5

Do you ever just listen to a random album and get slapped in the face with generational trauma? I have no idea why "無人テレビの設計図" (Blueprint for Unmanned TV) by blgtz (named after Bill Gates) appeared on my listening list, but it certainly did not disappoint. With a special shout out to the first song, it's pretty much at the intersection of a few things I adore, with that raw and lo-fi Emo sound, in combination with the extreme highs and lows of Post-Rock.

The first song, titled "アタシはキレイな水滴のfilmｳﾌﾌ", which apparently translates to "I'm a beautiful film of water droplets, ufufu", is by far the best song and all you really need to listen to. The rawness, in both vocals and sound quality are most obvious here. The highs are higher, the lows are lower, and the crash between them will give you whiplash. The lows come when singer Shota Tamura does that very common Japanese thing where vocals are ethereal and delicate, fragile enough to break at a single touch. Then the highs come and he dives head-first into agonizing pain, letting it all out. I genuinely don't think I've heard more passionate screaming, all cut through with tasteful voice breaks, than in this song.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=J4rk2j5NxZE&si=aw9XLTffQlqJ4HfR

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/26OzkKRUln0dwHjYiKXS3Q

Genre: Indie Folk
Release Date: January 26th, 2024
My Rating: 4/5

I've likely said this before, but my absolute favorite musical device is the caesura, aka the pregnant pause, aka that silence you sometimes hear before the bass drops. Somehow delaying the climax of music by just the fraction of a second makes the impact of it that much stronger. I would say that it's a fairly rare device in music, but more common in other forms of media like movies. Like when the detective is about to reveal the murderer but takes a deep breath right before saying the name

Now folk music isn't exactly known for it's climatic peaks, but strangely enough one of the best caesuras I've heard comes from the band Tapir! in their song "Gymnopédie". The song actually contains two caesuras, the first of which is a fairly standard one. Right after the very first spoken word "Dance...", the note is allowed to fade to silence with only the lightest of drums.

The second caesura is incredibly unique as Tapir! manage to innovate on the concept of silence. At the climatic peak, the singer sings "Sing...", the note is allowed to fade to silence, then is microtonally adjusted upward right before vanishing. With words alone, I cannot describe how cool this sound is, it really must be heard to be understood.

I consider the best version of this song to be a live performance from the state51 Factory, which I've linked below at the proper timestamps. The first caesura is around 8:02 and the second is around 9:40. But silence only exists in the context of the sounds around it, so you should really listen to the whole five minute song.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/6cNaMVvBrXA?si=WWN9wxYI4hpwwrer&t=458

Genre: Progressive Folk
Release Date: November 18th, 2022
My Rating: 4.5/5

I've decided that I'm going to make my music reviews a little more approachable. Now, instead of recommending albums such as the 7.5 hour long "Daughter of Darkness" by Natural Snow Buildings, I'll recommend some songs instead as they require less commitment. With that in mind, one of my favorite songs ever written is Track #1 of "The Ruby Cord" by Richard Dawson, titled "The Hermit".

"The Hermit" is emblematic of a kind of ultra-sparse Folk music, with many sections having a grand total of one instrument (including voice) playing over the occasional snare drum hit. This kind of minimalistic music forces you to listen to every individual sound, such as when the conclusion to a melody ends with a single chord played out over a few seconds, note by note. As a result, "The Hermit" is really the "lie in bed and stare at the ceiling" kind of music.

Now if that were it, then "The Hermit" would just be standard sparse Folk music, but it has two incredibly unique things going for it.

Firstly, Richard Dawson, if I am to be very generous, has a very polarizing singing voice and style. If I were to be a little less generous, I would probably say that Richard Dawson kind of sucks at singing. As one online reviewer put it, "physically nauseating falsetto vocals". But it's not the tools you are given in life, it's how you use them right? And Richard Dawson's weirdly wavering and off-tune vocal delivery somehow matches the sparse musical style perfectly. Unbelievably, it even sounds appropriate (not good!) when his voice is the only sound you year. And then there's a few times when he gains the superpower of harmonization and all the atonal weirdness is resolved into what feels like world peace.

In all seriousness, I quite like his vocal style, but I am for sure acclimated as I've probably listened to this track over 100 times. It may take some getting used to for new listeners though...

Secondly, Richard Dawson is a storyteller and poet of unparalleled ability. The minimalistic nature of the music forces you to hear each and every word, to feel the unique cadence and emphasis in every sound. "The Hermit" follows the story of a hermit (what did you expect) whose pilgrimage leads them to experience the totality of being in the past, present, and future. As a small sample of his lyricism, the journey starts in:

Hazy marshes, crow-pocked copses
Patchwork meadows labyrinthed with hedgerows
Gently declining to a fluff of woodsmoke
Clung to the fringe of the North Sea
The village of Bebba
Where once I lived, a
Fisher, before I was forced to flee

Not only has he fully ingested a thesaurus, but I'm pretty sure he makes up words just for the sound of them. Like if you can figure out what "interstix" means from the line "Through the arid interstix of my toes", please let me know. I feel like it's supposed to be "interstices" which makes sense in relation to "toes", but Richard Dawson and every lyric website spells it with an "x".

The song is of course available on all platforms and I've linked YouTube Music and Spotify below. Feel free to skip the first 11 minutes, as it can feel like pointless noodling. Oh did I forget to mention that the song is 41 minutes long? Well at least it's still more approachable than the whole album...

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=iXfDNVcUA90

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3sxKEkfOGplFVFazTVtoKj

Genre: Post-Rock, Art Rock
Release Date: January 27th, 2009
My Rating: 4.5/5

These days there are quite a few attacks on diversity, for seemingly no good reason. I think all those people who attack diversity just need to come to San Diego and eat a California Burrito, which combines the best of Mexican, American, and French (joke) cuisines. I guess I'm saying that diversity is great since you get to mix and match the best parts of each and make something greater than the sum of its parts.

Which is the convoluted lead in to some music I've listened to lately, which feels emblematic of the beauty of diversity in music. "La Brea" by Hesse Kassel combines an unbelievable number of influences and inspirations, so much that I feel the need to use bullet points:

• I would call Hesse Kassel the world's best Black County, New Road tribute band and the world's third best Slint tribute band. Both of these bands have 10/10 albums, "Ants From Up There" and "Spiderland" respectively. By the way, the world's second best Slint tribute band is BC,NR according to the band itself. I have no idea who BC,NR think the best Slint tribute band is...
• "La Brea" falls squarely in the rock tradition but use post-rock song structure of long ballad like songs with high highs and low lows. Also present are quite a few Jazz influences, mostly through the Jazz Rock and highly chaotic Avant-Prog traditions. In smaller quantities are Noise Rock, Drone, and maybe some Chamber Pop thrown in. And layered on top of everything is the spoken word vocals, which would feel right in place in Slam Poetry.
• The instrumentation is what I mentally classify as Rock+. In other words, you have the stand Rock trio of guitar, bass, and drums, but add some unique instruments. Hesee Kassel is not too wild here, only adding on piano and saxophone as primary instruments with occasional strings.

Essentially a post-rock album, "La Brea" definitely takes it's time through every track, with an average length of 10 minutes. Within each track, musical ideas are slowly massaged and kneaded to recombine in unique ways. The reason I spend so much time listening to new music is I'm trying to find new ways of titillating the senses and you can be sure that "La Brea" had me sufficiently titillated. I guarantee that unless you are as obsessed with Post-Rock as I am, you will hear at least one new musical trope in every song.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l2EZjACWv0u4kBPVDqkW9CzbMWbLWfZDk

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4VMNGHzzMAkabEJmsZqeZT

Genre: Drone, Folk
Release Date: January 27th, 2009
My Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite albums ever released! "Daughter of Darkness" by Natural Snow Buildings turned 16 years old on January 27th. This titanic work of art, a 7+ hour long recording of Drone/Folk music, contains the most immersive soundscape you will ever hear. I've listened to this album lying down in bed and it demands you to close your eyes and focus on the pulsing noise. I've also listened to this album while working or reading and entered hours long flow states with the fuzz drowning out distractions.

The way the music is built, from it's long pulsing drones of bowed guitar, from the layered sounds to the most chilling silence you'll ever hear, "Daughter of Darkness" feels like a living, breathing organism. Some kind of sea creature which has been hibernating at the bottom of the ocean undisturbed for centuries. It really evokes a mood of timeless alien dreaming.

At this point, I believe the bowed guitar, which is the primary source of droning sound in "Daughter of Darkness", is my favorite instrument. There's something impossibly ethereal about a single note being played for long periods of time with the only variation being in microtonal adjustments, volume, and pedal effects. A big reason why "Flood" by Boris is my favorite album of all time is the 20 second long one note bowed guitar solo played by Wata which conveys more emotion than any melody has ever done.

I know that asking someone to listen to 7+ hours of music is tough, so I would recommend one of two tracks to start with. First, you could try the shocking short 6 minute long track #4 Curare, which I think is the best usage of silence in "Daughter of Darkness". Or you could try the album length (45 minutes) track #15 Devil's Fork, which is representative of the album as a whole.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l8_sBZqZaHdbVXRmE6vFCzTfti4fmhiBE

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6FNu7RUEKOGhdgZenZKg4s

Genre: Minimalism
Release Date: April, 1978
My Rating: 4.5/5

You could definitely characterize Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" as extremely pretentious, or as really weird elevator music. The composition came either from a burst of mad genius or an unhealthy amount of psychoactive drugs (or maybe one caused the other). But as polarizing as it is, there's a truly unique sound here for those with the patience to listen to the whole hour. Allow me to quote from Steve Reich's actual website:

"The entire opening and closing sections plus part of all sections in between contain pulses by the voice and winds. They take a full breath and sing or play pulses of particular notes for as long as their breath will comfortably sustain them."

As far as I can tell, this pulsing is individual, so each musician decides when to start playing their pulse and when to end. So while the piano and marimba lay down a steady drumming beat, other instruments phase in and out in different combinations. They rhythm also evolves, gradually changing to something completely different. The change is slow enough that if you listen to any few sequential minutes, you would hard pressed to hear differences. But skip between different parts and nothing is the same.

This puts "Music for 18 Musicians" on the high pedestal of the most hypnotic music I am aware of. The steady rhythm and pulsing sounds lull you into a flow state while changing just enough that it's not repetitive. Literally the perfect thing to fall asleep or work to.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_neSJpc6NyatKQ0ejPgVstLUQVIddFlF7A

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2zUpKJnQgl3YMUJ4dqYo61

Genre: Jazz Rock
Release Date: October 4th, 2024
My Rating: 5/5

My favorite ever live band, which I was able to see twice before they disbanded in August this year, is British post-everything (but mostly jazz/rock) band Black Midi. Post-breakup all three members went their separate ways, with front man Geordie Greep continuing the sound of Black Midi in his first solo album, titled "The New Sound".

If you were boring, you could describe "The New Sound" as Jazz-Rock with funny lyrics. But "The New Sound" falls squarely in the "maximalist music" style of Black Midi, so of course it has influences as diverse as Latin Rock, Brazilian Samba, and Free Jazz, with some Frank Zappa thrown in. Usually it's the instrumentals which are dialed to the max, but when they aren't you really get an earful of Greep crooning unhinged vulgarities. See for example, the lyrics to track #3 "Holy, Holy", a poster child of toxic masculinity. The way Greep decided to cosplay as Andrew Tate every time he opened his mouth really put me off on my first listen. But it's pretty clearly satire given how "maximalist" the misogyny is.

Once I flipped the lyrics in my head from painful to funny, "The New Sound" pretty quickly rose to be my album of the year. I'll leave you with this fragment of a different review which I found both apt: "Give a man Twitter and he will go insane. Give him Nabokov and Tolstoy, and a vast array of classic films and decades of romantic compositions, and a history of philosophy from stoic to postmodern, and unfettered access to brainrot manosphere bullshit AND Twitter - and he will go insane and consequently make fascinating and beautiful art about it."

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIE1xxww7KYtCPsXkj1qf-krFtRP-T3bA

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/07YS7ooqYtvPZLlW59MHY5

Genre: Jazz Rock
Release Date: January 25th, 2006
My Rating: 4/5

In my long quest to find the next Lamp, I must have listened to every single decently rated or higher Jazz Pop album released in the last 20 years. My quest still continues, but in the process I discovered some hidden gems, such as 大人 (Adult) by 東京事変 (Tokyo Incidents).

大人 is the opposite of the silky smooth Jazz Pop of Lamp, with the only real similarities being the fusion of Jazz with a more modern genre, in this case Rock. Whereas Lamp is low-key and mellow, even on the faster tracks, 大人 is over the top and excessive, even on the slower tracks. I think the second to last track "Invisible Man (Adult Version)" is especially emblematic of this. The tempo is not fast, but in song every instrument and the vocals are all over the place in both their sound and range. Random bells and whistles (not literally) accent while the song's tone flip-flops around the same theme. This strange variety permeates the whole album, making for a plain fun listening experience.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nXa1_t-vkq6FtGWqjoq-f-_Kn443M0hDg

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2cVtur6q97JRQFquXkdTQf

Genre: Jazz Pop, Art Pop
Release Date: March 15th, 2017
My Rating: 4.5/5

In my long quest to find the next Lamp, I must have listened to every single decently rated or higher Japanese Jazz Pop album released in the last 20 years. My quest still continues, but in the process I discovered some hidden gems, such as 屋根裏獣 (translated as Attic Beast) by 吉澤嘉代子 (Kayoko Yoshizawa).

I'll start by saying Attic Beast is possibly the most innovative album I've listened to, featuring a bewildering variety of instruments. At times, they combine into some kind of dense orchestral jazz, which is high energy but never loud. At other times, it's distilled down into Yoshizawa's calm voice over simple instrumentals. These two contrasting styles are very evident on track 7 地獄タクシー (translated as Hell Taxi), which I highly recommend as being a microcosm of the album as a whole.

At the end of the day, Attic Beast is just a fun and playful album with constant switches of styles and many head bobbing moments. It's not my favorite album of all time, not even close, but it's probably among my most played albums of all time. Pretty much no matter how I'm feeling, it's always a good time to listen.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lr8S458u5JTi8B-17bClnSMme-D6F5RJQ

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5XjkMIxoHwWRZjRSktzTVv

Genre: Post-Rock, Slowcore
Release Date: September 18th, 2024
My Rating: 4.5/5

What will likely end up being my favorite album this year (and a possible candidate for my seventh 10/10 album) is titled "Solo Postres" by Spanish band Ramper. The album takes Post-Rock song structure to the extremes, with the lows being incredibly sparse and the highs being slow but heavy. As a massive plus for me, the album also features extensive classical instruments from various horns to string instruments.

The music cultivates a kind of dark pastoral vibe with it's extensive folk music influences while keeping the imagery of a fantastical journey across snow capped peaks and foggy plains. I lack the media literacy to fully describe my feelings about this album, but I would call it some kind of epic "Lord of the Rings" style journey composed of traveling through Lovecraft's dream books. I think the journey part is quite apt, but the Lovecraft comparison is only partially there... I only include Lovecraft for sense of surreal mystery I get from listening, but the album has only a tiny hint of futile struggle against cosmic forces. In the end though, the album managed to evoke in me emotions, feelings, and thoughts I don't have words for, and is there any higher praise for media?

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m2zKJwUwnaRLshfpXu5XQw9X2HM9z6Dec

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/76QaJHgcLO6G1GzkCq10Hj

Genre: Alt-Country, Slacker Rock
Release Date: June 15th, 2019
My Rating: 4.5/5

Another one of my favorite albums of all time is "The Magnolia Electric Co." by Songs: Ohia. It gained this distinction by having some of the greatest lyricism ever written, expressed through band leader Jason Molina's struggles with depression, drug abuse, and love. But I'm not confident enough to review Molina's magnum opus, so instead this is about the self-titled album from MJ Lenderman, a love letter to Molina.

MJ Lenderman's self-titled is a masterpiece of Country/Slacker Rock, which you can think of as slow and striped down Country music with a few rock elements. Notice both the lap steel guitar, a classic Country instrument which allows notes to smoothly glide between each other, and the saxophone highlights, which always elevates music in my eyes.

In Slacker Rock style, the music gains a depressive tone through it's lethargic tempo and sparse instrumentation. In Country music sung by a male style, the lyrics are pretty uniformly sad and bittersweet. In combination, the album gains incredible weight despite its minimalism, demanding your full attention when listening.

Although not quite at the level of Jason Molina (jokingly, MJ Lenderman needs an alcohol addiction to be that good), the album is full of poetry. In the track "Southern Birds", MJ Lenderman sings:

With the patience of the willow
Who's waiting for that searchin' wind
Waiting for a light
So why, then, if this is true
Do I love the night and it's hollow moon
And those southern birds leaving me behind
When they go back home, I wanna go home
Fly home, fly home

A seriously great album, a very solid 9/10. I would highly recommend you listen to both MJ Lenderman's self-titled and afterwards, "The Magnolia Electric Co." for comparison.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lxNeecLrGUhTa3Q0ZFLxEK7ic758zPjJw

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2jqRKWESMCzcoGo7ZPHdHQ

Genre: Shoegaze, Post-Rock
Release Date: August 24th, 2024
My Rating: 4/5

The most prolific music artist I am aware of is small collection of solo acts all done by Damián Antón Ojeda of Mexico. His two main solo acts are Blackgaze/Shoegaze band Sadness and Black Metal band Trhä. To illustrate his prodigious output, in 2023 alone, through only these two bands, Damián released 22 collaboration albums and 9 solo albums. It's not just regurgitated slop either, I've listened to about 1/3 of his recent discography and I've never given a rating below 7/10 to any of it.

About one month ago, he recently went through a rough breakup with his girlfriend of 5+ years, and as such is now on indefinite hiatus. But what better way to sign off than writing, recording, and releasing three full albums over the course of two weeks dedicated to lost love.

Of the three albums I would recommend "i want to make something as beautiful as you", not because it is the best, but rather because it is the softest, although it is still Shoegaze. If you only listen to one track, you should listen to the third, titled "damzamkeit", which has a shining example of post-rock song structure while not being too noisy. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, pretty much every song follows the classic post-rock progression, gradually swinging between clean and quiet guitars to heavy noise and back down again. If you're on the fence about listening to Shoegaze or noisy music in general, there aren't many better options of where to start.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nIXW5wlpUUIAT6mh07GSa6n2dMkl_xZSU

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2r7PrD95aTWaIFTD3MVQTx

Genre: Post-Rock, Jazz-Rock
Release Date: August 30th, 2024
My Rating: 4.5/5

Maruja have been my second favorite band for a year and a half now, ever since they released a legendary EP titled "Knocknarea", perhaps the closest a band has ever gotten to re-capturing the unique Jazz-Punk sound of Japanese band Midori. Finally, after almost ten years as a band, Maruja have released their first full album, but not in the way anyone expected them to.

"The Vault" is a collection of six improvised songs from their practice sessions which total about 90 minutes. Stylistically, rather than repeat the manic sounds of Jazz-Punk they've done in the past, the album see-saws between Post-Rock and long-form Jazz. The dissonance between competing musical ideas, the way sounds hypnotically ebb and flow, how you can hear each individual member perform yet eventually come together into a cohesive form, I believe Maruja have captured a small part of the shape of music.

YT Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqg_sVf003Y

YT Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIpCyrBfgis

Not on any other streaming services

Genre: Art Rock, Post-Rock
Release Date: April 18th, 2023
My Rating: N/A

Although I usually send albums, this review is of a live performance on KEXP by the Mexican band Diles que no me maten, translated as Tell them not to kill me. The reason for this is that the first song is an improvisation (about 90% sure), the second is a single, and the last two are from different albums. But together they work together amazingly as a kind of greatest hits compilation.

I really hate using this term, but Diles que no me maten seem to fit the exact definition of Art Rock, albeit their own sparse and minimal version of the genre. There's some recognizable rock elements, such as the drums on the second song, but their heavy usage of textures over melodies, extensive reverb, and unusual instruments (Sax, Trumpet, Cello, etc.) give them a truly unique sound in the world of rock.

Furthermore, the vocalist of Diles que no me maten has pretty much the only spoken word style vocal delivery that I've liked in recent memory. That's even in spite of the fact that I speak zero Spanish, so it's solely based upon the sounds, rhythms, and cadence of the vocals. After listening to the whole performance, I would highly recommend you listen to the section from around 10:45 to 13:00, lying/sitting down, eyes closed, and just absorb.

YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0GLpHgTb4k

Genre: Drone Metal
Release Date: December 25th, 2003
My Rating: 4.5/5

Boris has been my favorite band of all time for almost a year now, and it's in large part because of their album "Flood". But this review is about my second favorite album of theirs, a legendary Drone Metal album called "Boris at Last -Feedbacker-"

As the album title implies, the primary tool is amplifier feedback, where the sound created by the amplifier is recycled through microphones or guitar pickups multiple times, which tends to compound noise in the electrical signal. Done on accident, this causes the sharp screeching sound you occasionally hear in live music. Done on purpose, the sound becomes hypnotically dense and crushingly loud. Boris truly demonstrate their mastery of this guitar technique on this album, using it to create pulsing and droning sounds you can hear nowhere else

I gave the album a 9/10, with one point taken off solely for Parts 4 and 5. Part 4 in particular I dislike because it sharply swerves into the realm of raw noise for seemingly no purpose. Feel free to also skip Part 5, which serves as a short recap of the main melody before bowing out. But the first three parts are must listen 10/10 music

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lWd0imnQRzFnBQBlpJHq0vXNgKiUYiWQY

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2Xbd3EI9auhlw5WOKnNX3H

Genre: Art Pop
Release Date: June 28th, 2024
My Rating: 4/5

A recent release I have really enjoyed listening to this year is "Sentir que no sabes" by Guatemalan cellist and vocalist Mabe Fratti. The primary reason why I love the album so much is that it has a sound I've never really heard before, that of duet for cello and voice (with light drum machine). And the cherry on top is that it has horn and piano accents, two features guaranteed to draw me in.

I cannot stress how much a difference it makes to have a cello instead of a bass. Oftentimes with low bass you don't quite "hear" the sound, rather you physically "feel" the sound, which incidentally is the reason you put subwoofers on the ground on a hard surface. With cello used instead of bass, especially the weirdly atonal cello Mabe Fratti plays, you really hear a deep and woody sound. These features are most prominent on tracks 4 (Oídos) and 8 (Márgen del índice) and I would highly recommend you listen to them first.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n4ezVDYwd54usVPqtdWbcBIk0zVue_-bE

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0lIG0tIWqZiWkL43EZvg0l

Genre: Post-Rock, Modern Classical
Release Date: March 13th, 2000
My Rating: 4/5

In a classic example of pretentious Post-Rock album naming, the debut album from A Silver Mt. Zion is titled "He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms..." The album was written and recorded in dedication to the lead guitarist's dog, who died of cancer while on tour with "Godspeed You! Black Emperor" (perhaps the most famous Post-Rock band of all time).

In classic Godspeed You! style, the album is universally apocalyptic and melancholic. It's music which would be recovered from the wreckage of a planet after nuclear winter, or perhaps fired into space as the last act of our species as we cook alive. Of special note are tracks five (13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round The Side Of Your Bed) and eight (For Wanda). The two tracks elevate the somber atmosphere to the maximum

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n880RRye0i5Fi9Cbmm_n8JLACK3AW6mPA

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/298tKa2DPLT9GNmY8vsvLj

Genre: Ambient, Drone, Folk
Release Date: 2007
My Rating: 4.5/5

I've been listening to a French duo called Natural Snow Buildings who are famous for releasing insanely long (up to six hours!) albums of Ambient/Folk/Drone music. The length of their music and the genre intersection of Ambient/Drone means listening is incredibly meditative, the kind of music you listen to when lying in bed, eyes closed, doing absolutely nothing. But, I don't want to recommend their music to anyone since listening to a six hour long album is a tough ask, especially when it comes with the caveat of "it gets a lot better after the first two hours"

Fortunately, one of the members of this French duo, Mehdi Ameziane (aka TwinSisterMoon) released what amounts to a short introduction to the music of Natural Snow buildings through a not even one hour long album. "When Stars Glide Through Solid" keeps the musical style of ambient folk without venturing into hypnotically long tracks. I feel like I say this far too much, but this is a (relatively) approachable introduction to a very unique genre of music

YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExPhZxYREEc

If you find you enjoyed this album, I would next recommend "The Winter Ray" by the full Natural Snow Buildings duo. Clocking in at a pretty short 2.5 hours, it is probably my favorite release of theirs due to its perfect capturing of a bleak and harrowing winter night

YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx_dEmt1alI

Genre: Math Rock, Noise Rock
Release Date: June 21st, 2007
My Rating: 4.5/5

"Astero" by 37500 Yens is one of the best Math Rock albums every released. Written and performed by two incredibly obscure French guys, all we know are their first names: Jud on guitar and Frank on drums. Frank is one of the best drummers I've ever heard, somehow able to give structure to a fractal polyrhythmic heaven. Jud is a magician on the guitar, playing what sometimes sounds like three guitars at once through masterful usage of what I assume are looping and delay pedals.

Of particular note are tracks 5 (Canard Boiteux) and 8 (The Sullivan's Quartet) both of which add a little extra on top of guitar and drums. Canard Boiteux features a four minute John Zorn-esque saxaphone freak-out which offers a much needed reprieve from the heavy guitars. The climax on The Sullivan's Quartet features the only vocals on the whole album, in the form of agonizing screams.

"Astero" is truly unique, not just in Math Rock but in all music

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nGGe5URwGZEWwjajXeu9RPZscFeSM5K_0&si=8Y5GgesquiMLL4-h

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6uwPiAADXiJ1So8L6EFCti

Genre: Jazz Pop, Bossa Nova
Release Date: February 11th, 2004
My Rating: 4.5/5

Lamp has some of the most mellow and soothing music to ever grace the face of this planet. Their album "恋人へ" (translated as "For Lovers") is incredibly warm Jazz Pop with hints of Bossa Nova. Imagine you're walking along a Studio Ghibli-esque beachside on a peaceful summer night. Distill that feeling, butter it over silky smooth jazz, and layer mellow vocals on top. Welcome to the world of Lamp

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mDSyH2kGcoATU9poAsdKp4RFS2poaMFTo

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0gwS2D9sukMLXNvleEnYr2

Genre: Spiritual Jazz, Jazz Fusion
Release Date: May 3rd, 2024
My Rating: 4/5

My boy Kamasi Washington, one of the more famous modern Jazz musicians, recently dropped a new album called "Fearless Movement". If you've heard of him but are not sure where, he was a significant but hidden driving force behind "To Pimp a Butterfly" by Kendrick Lamar. The album features genuine Jazz-Rap, excellent spiritual jazz, and features by storied individuals such as Thundercat and George Clinton, as well as a underground yet promising New Age flutist called Andre 3000. "Fearless Movement" and what Kamasi Washington is doing feels like the future of jazz.

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ku_hVMiBSyQvMndjOcB6CSgSw1eJ3uQYA

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0Jy18n9qpKS4RyDYmaPpdL

Genre: Jazz-Punk
Release Date: May 14th, 2008
My Rating: 4.5/5

One of my favorite albums ever released is a Japanese jazz punk album by Midori titled "あらためまして、はじめまして、ミドリです" (translated as "Nice to meet you again, I'm Midori"). Seriously, do not get baited by the first song, the emphasis for this album is on the PUNK part of jazz punk. Here's someone else's review which I think perfectly encapsulates the music:

"You could go to a jazz bar and be chilling there with a drink in hand, watching the band play some classic numbers, and even though you think they may be playing it too fast, the lovely lady on the mic eases every wrong in your mind. Her voice is cute, almost childish, but the way everything just falls into place is almost unsettling. Then all of a sudden, all hell breaks loose. Literally. The tempo is upped by a good five hundred percent, the band is now playing monstrous riffs and the drummer is beating the shit out of his instrument. The lady has gone berserk, and while howling and screaming into the mic, she now proceeds to bludgeon you to death. The whole aesthetic would make any hardcore act proud."

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lm3hNmpsw8KoC5swnHsKYvfHn8i01fYwA

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5q8Hkakvwmb5Zyk4nUZKyD

Genre: Post-Rock, Drone
Release Date: December 15th, 2000
My Rating: 5/5

Well, it finally happened, my favorite album of all time, "98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare" by Fishmans has been unseated from it's throne.

The new King is a Post-Rock/Drone album titled "Flood" by Boris. While technically a single track spanning 70 minutes, it is divided into four parts titled Flood I through IV. Amazingly for a new favorite album of all time, half of the runtime in Flood I and IV are simply okay. But Flood II and III are the greatest 35 minutes of music I've ever heard. They are so far beyond 10/10 it excuses the middling sounds before and after.

Flood II is the transcendental experience of floating without direction on a vast expanse of water. It begins with a slow and steady drum beat into the warmest and most reverb drenched chords I have ever heard. New ideas are gradually introduced and the section finishes with an incredibly melancholic guitar solo.

Flood III is the destructive power of a tsunami. It turns out the earlier tranquility was simply the water receding before the main wave. A simple theme combined with subtle vocals builds up to an apocalyptic climax. The density of sound and distortion blows out both your speakers and your mind.

Quite simply a masterpiece of Post-Rock.

YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZDstZ1-EAI

Genre: Indie Folk
Release Date: January 26th, 2024
My Rating: 4/5

My first notable release of 2024 goes to a very respectable 8/10 Indie Folk album by Tapir! titled "The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of My Decrepit Mountain". Although the album is an 8/10, I found a live recording of three highlights of the album which I'd actually put at a 10/10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cNaMVvBrXA.

The live recording has pretty much everything I've been enjoying these days. It has a unique voice, muted horns and drums, and instrumentation full of contrast, as much as you can have in a soft and warm Indie Folk recording.

And in case you want to listen to the whole album

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nRVjLBODvaqPtyVeP_rQDGApF0rBskkLM

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4btBSwAto3RPLs2o4VLQJb

Genre: Dungeon Synth
Release Date: 1996
My Rating: 4/5

Depressive Silence [II] by Depressive Silence is anything but depressing. Possibly the best album of the Dungeon Synth genre, this music is both epic and adventurous. This is the instrumental soundtrack to a journey of discovery for forgotten lands, people, and times.

Here's someone else's great one sentence review: "Easily the most perfectly Lovecraftian record I've ever listened to - not because of any direct reference to Lovecraft's works, but because it captures the sense of awe before a majestic nothingness at the heart of his poetics."

YT Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxgVmpAk538

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2NnkLRaeX33d1Mn8ZLgTo8

Genre: Post-Rock, Math-Rock
Release Date: March 27th, 1991
My Rating: 4.5/5

Spiderland by Slint is without a doubt THE album which spawned the genres of both Math Rock and Post Rock, being a massive influence on titans such as "Godspeed You! Black Emperor", Mogwai, and (at least I would argue) Swans, among many other bands. Perhaps even more incredible is that the album was recorded over four days in 1990 by a bunch of 20 years olds where all the lyrics were written in studio.

The album is primarily spoken word and screamed vocals over incredibly noisy yet also starkly cold and bleak instrumentals. Everything combines with extreme contrast where a whispered spoken word section builds into an emotional roar and back down again. Of particular note are tracks 4 and 6 on the album, "Washer" and "Good Morning, Captain".

"Washer" is likely the most emotionally crushing song I've ever heard. The lyrics themselves and their delivery is despondent. The guitar melody is melancholic and depressing. Combined with a cathartic moment at the end into a fall down, the song is heartbreaking.

"Good Morning, Captain" is similarly chilling and emotionally draining with an extra dosage of cold and bleak. A fascinating six minutes of simultaneously quiet and loud music builds up to the single most emotional scream in all of music. On the one hand the culmination of the song, on the other hand the finale of the album as a whole. One of my favorite (possibly apocryphal) anecdotes is that the vocalist, Brian McMahan, recorded the last vocals of the song on a whim. When he exited the recording booth, he was soaked in sweat and completely drained. After finishing recording, he checked himself into a mental hospital.

Not quite a 10/10 since track 5 is a little bit of a stinker (relative to the album as a whole), but possibly as close to perfect as you can get, 9.5/10

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k62V_DypQV555aJil4o3rMio-Lmuwor74

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2NnkLRaeX33d1Mn8ZLgTo8

Genre: Post-Rock, Experimental Jazz-Rock
Release Date: December 30th, 2023
My Rating: 4.5/5

Some really cool polish experimental jazz rock. I think the first song is by far the best, but the album as a whole is really good as well

YT Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kEY5zzMwHgzFn0RXRk9biMT-2idswlSV8

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0lttOglq5HOuqRe6ygT0MF